Requirement
2. One of four options, and it decides the rest of the badge
Required Often forgotten
ICE SKATING, ROLLER SKATING, IN-LINE SKATING OR SKATEBOARDING. Not two of them, not a bit of each. The stem also carries a condition that is easy to miss and applies to every step underneath: all of this is done working under the supervision of an experienced adult.
Notes and warnings
Warning. ONE SENTENCE ABOVE THE OPTIONS GOVERNS EVERY STEP BELOW THEM, AND IT IS STATED ONCE. "Working under the supervision of an experienced adult, do ONE of the following options." That condition is not attached to the first item on the list, and it is not repeated anywhere inside any option. It applies to all fifty seven steps underneath it, on whichever option is chosen, including the ones that are explanations rather than skating. THE PRACTICAL EFFECT IS THAT NO PART OF REQUIREMENT 2 IS HOMEWORK. Requirement 1 can be prepared alone at the kitchen table; nothing in requirement 2 can. Somebody experienced has to be present, and finding that person is part of choosing the option.
Note. FOUR OPTIONS, AND THEY SHARE NO WORK WITH EACH OTHER. Ice Skating is fourteen steps, Roller Skating thirteen, In-Line Skating sixteen, and Skateboarding fourteen plus a choice of three trick families out of five. Whichever one is chosen, between forty six and fifty two of this badge's seventy steps belong to options nobody is going to do, which is why the question at the top of this plan is worth answering before reading any further. FOUR IS A LOT BUT IT IS NOT A RECORD. Counted across all 144 merit badges on 2026-08-24: Athletics offers nine options under one requirement, Animal Science six, Radio five, and Geology, Metalwork, Multisport, Snow Sports and this badge four each.
Warning. WHAT DECIDES THIS ANSWER IS WHERE YOU CAN GET TO, NOT WHICH SPORT YOU LIKE, AND THE PAGE NEVER SAYS SO. Ice Skating needs an ice rink, with opening hours, admission and usually hired skates. Roller Skating needs a roller rink, on the same terms. Skateboarding needs a built skatepark, because one of its steps asks you to drop in from coping and there is no version of that in a driveway. IN-LINE SKATING IS THE ONLY OPTION THAT NEEDS NO FACILITY AT ALL: flat pavement, a gentle slope and a curb, all of which exist within a short walk of most homes. AND IT IS ALSO THE LONGEST, at sixteen steps against thirteen for the shortest. So the shortest list is not the least work once the travelling and the admission are counted, and the free option is the biggest one. That trade is invisible on the published page.
What this is made of
Where this step comes from
- Skating Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31), Requirement 2 · The requirement opens "Working under the supervision of an experienced adult, do ONE of the following options", and then lists Option A Ice Skating, Option B Roller Skating, Option C In-Line Skating and Option D Skateboarding.